First, a disclaimer. When I wrote in a recent blog that the Ravens may have had enough of Jared Gaither's half-baked work ethic, I did not mean to imply he was a marijuana smoker.
On the contrary: I merely meant to say his half-hearted attitude toward his profession carries a risk to his future employment with the Ravens.
Little did I know that "half-baked" carries a marijuana implication. My defense: I'm 60 years old and I know next to nothing about the drug culture or the slang that surrounds it. Half-baked to me is less than 100 percent committed, which I don't believe Gaither is.
But to read on a Baltimore Sun message board that "Ken Murray insinuates Gaither is a pothead" is wrong. To have the Kansas City Chiefs say they wouldn't trade for Gaither because of the blog's insinuation is silly. Once my blog hit profootballtalk.com, the insinuation hit the fan.
So let's clear the debris, folks: I didn't insinuate anything. I used an unfortunate, but to me innocent, phrase to describe Gaither's mindset. I regret that choice of words. I don't know if Gaither smokes pot or not. I don't even know if the Ravens would really trade him.
For me, this is a wakeup call. Not about reporting; I know how to report. It's about the bizarre blogdom we're all in now, and it's making journalism irrelevant. I can only shake my head at the thought.